The service sector as an object of application of logistics. Coursework services in logistics

In the last two decades, in the theory and practice of market management, along with marketing and management, a new methodology for the functioning of the market has developed - logistics. According to most scientists, logistics is considered as a new direction of economic activity of enterprises, which consists in managing material flows in the spheres of production and circulation, as well as as a scientific direction related to the optimization of commodity distribution processes.

The experience of using logistics in the economic practice of service sector enterprises is very limited and exists so far only in sectors of the sphere of material production, in transport services of enterprises, in the logistics of repairs, infrastructure departments, etc. However, with the development of the modern market, the scope of application of logistics is increasingly expanding. Since logistics optimization involves flow processes, the question arises about the possibility of its widespread use in service enterprises.

It seems that in relation to the service sector, logistics is the optimization of the management of the flow of any resources and products of production of industry enterprises on the way from the manufacturer to the consumer in order to most fully satisfy the latter. Consequently, the subject of studying logistics in the service sector will be the optimization of flow processes, including commodity, financial, labor, and information. The ultimate goal of logistics in the service sector is to produce and offer to the end consumer the necessary services and accompanying non-core products in the required volume, in a certain place at the appointed time and at the lowest cost.

The main conceptual idea of ​​logistics is a holistic and systemic perception of the application object. This is very relevant for the service sector. The process of functioning and development of the service sector is characterized by extreme complexity, which is due to the diversity and high dynamism of needs. Without representing the service sector as a set of industries in the form of an integral system, it is impossible to achieve optimal parameters for its development. At the same time, it is impossible to solve the problem of a single enterprise without combining its isolated structural divisions and the processes occurring in them into an integral system with its internal and external connections. And, finally, it is impossible to achieve the efficiency of flow processes in an organization, on the one hand, without considering their individual links, and, on the other hand, the totality of flow processes as a single integral system.

As a special research method, logistics involves the construction of logistics systems that serve to optimize the management of the movement of resources and products. An important condition for their construction is compliance with a number of general principles. Upon careful study of these principles, it seems possible to conclude that some of them are quite acceptable for creating logistics systems to optimize the management of the flow of resources and products.

One of the main principles acceptable for service production processes is the coordination of all resource flow processes, starting from the acquisition of resources necessary for the enterprise and ending with their production consumption. The following follows from this principle: the need to introduce a system of integrated management and control over the movement of all production results towards the consumer. Compliance with this principle is very important, since it makes it possible to combine into a single whole the function of managing and monitoring the flow of all resources from the supplier to the consumer in the required volume and within the specified time frame.

The third principle, acceptable for building a logistics system in the service sector, involves abandoning the division of the flow of material and technical resources into separate independent functional blocks: sales-purchase, transportation, warehousing, warranty service, etc., and the transition to managing the entire flow of goods as a single whole according to criteria common to the entire system. This principle is no less important, since currently in service organizations all actions from the purchase of resources to their consumption are often considered in isolation, as unrelated and independent of each other, which has the most negative impact on the results of the functioning of the entire working capital turnover system. The development and implementation of a unified technological process for the movement of inventories of material and technical resources, ensuring clear interaction and coordinated actions of various structural divisions of predominantly large enterprises is the key to the success of its activities in the field of circulation of working capital.

The next principle is based on the concept of total costs.

It involves taking into account the totality of costs throughout the entire supply chain, since the total amount of costs does not always decrease if the costs associated with the functioning of individual elements of the system of movement of resources and products are reduced. As practice shows, reducing costs at any one stage of resource and product flow without taking into account interaction with others can lead to the opposite result.

A comprehensive analysis of the logistics service system allows us to determine the proportions of the logistics system, the effectiveness of the cost characteristics of these proportions, and the management policy of the enterprise.

And finally, the last principle of building logistics systems is the continuity of providing logistics process management bodies with reliable information about the flow of flows.

In terms of logistics (materials and technical support), the logistics system should function according to the following scheme: procurement - transportation - warehousing - production consumption. The passage of inventories through each of these stages should be associated with the implementation of a number of measures to optimize the logistics process. These include:

rational choice of suppliers and sources of resources;

concluding the most profitable and economical contracts for the supply of resources;

determining the most rational routes for delivering resources from supplier to consumer;

implementation of an effective warehousing system;

optimizing the level of resource reserves, etc.

Thus, logistics as a method for optimizing the management of flow processes is quite acceptable in the service sector. The possibility and necessity of using logistics methods in the service sector is dictated by the objective process of formation and development of a service economy in the global and national economy. The formation and development of logistics activities in the service sector, the formation of a new structure of economic relations, and the development of market infrastructure require the organic introduction of logistics approaches and methods, which consist in the flexible and effective organization of flow processes of resources and products, taking into account their industry specifics.

sector service cycle logistics

To make it easier to study the material, we divide the article into topics:

— the sphere of transportation, or transport industry;

— the sphere of product storage, or warehousing;

- the sphere of product sales, or trade (wholesale and retail).

The presented combinations of substantive processes that make up the essence of delivery and the forms of their organization in their totality are classical components of the subject of logistics science.

However, the following important points should be noted:

Firstly, the “content”, or components, of the material and “value”, or exchange, processes themselves, filling the content of the holistic delivery process, are in practice very extensive and are in a process of constant change due to the technical and scientific process. The previous analysis for educational purposes (and in general as a scientific analysis) is based only on the most important essence of each meaningful process, abstracting from everything “secondary”, but in life there is usually hardly anything “secondary”. Therefore, each specific meaningful process included in the overall delivery process is a combination of many processes and operations, and therefore it is an object of independent (separate) study;

Secondly, the content of the delivery process itself does not remain unchanged:

— the modern world is the world of information technology. As a result, in the delivery process, they are increasingly isolated, which have their own material support (information communications, instruments, technical devices, information transmission media, communication satellites, etc.) and on the basis of this allow optimization (speed up, reduce the cost, etc. .) many product delivery processes;

- the “cost” delivery process, or the process of selling products on the market, is constantly becoming structurally more complex due to the complication of the market itself, which leads to the emergence of new commercial organizations that, at a professional level, help other market participants implement and improve (optimize) product delivery processes, but do this in the form of providing relevant market services, the number and variety of which are constantly increasing;

— the complication of market processes leads to the fact that there is a specialization of even the management methods and models themselves, in relation specifically to the processes of product delivery, on the basis of which there is a continuous process of improving these processes;

Thirdly, substantive processes are not only organizationally separate processes, but also components of a single delivery process, and therefore must be studied not only separately, but also in their unity.

A holistic approach to logistics includes the following aspects:

- one of the forms of expression of this approach is that, as a subject of logistics science, there are supply and sales, in each of which material and exchange delivery operations are immediately considered in unity;

— we should not forget that supply and sales themselves are parts of the overall delivery process, and therefore they should be considered (in scientific and practical terms) as a certain unity that is achieved through intra-production delivery;

- finally, a general market approach to the integrity of the delivery process is also possible, which means that optimization of costs and profits is achieved not only in relation to an individual market participant, but also in relation to some of their groups, as far as this is generally possible under the dominance of private property. In this case, this approach to product delivery seems most relevant for all kinds of government organizations and from them to the population and other organizations.

Components of logistics as a science.

Taking into account the above, the main components of the subject of logistics science usually include:

1. Types of logistics activities of a market participant:

Supply activities, or supply logistics (purchase logistics);

Sales activities, or sales logistics (sales logistics);

Intra-production logistics.

2. Product delivery or logistics industries:

Transport industry, or transport logistics;

Warehousing, or warehouse logistics;

Trade activities, or trade logistics.

3. Related areas of logistics are subjects of logistics science that study either processes or methods of management and analysis that take place (applied) simultaneously in all (or many) types and branches of logistics activity, which therefore can be considered as independent objects of research and practical application.

Such related areas of logistics, in particular, include: inventory management, packaging management, information logistics, logistics operations planning, logistics modeling, etc.

In the given names of the subjects of logistics science, the word “logistics” is a redundant concept, since both the concept of logistics itself and each of its subjects are essentially the same. For example, both logistics and supply (sales, transportation, etc.) in their concept are always the process of delivering products, but only in general (if it is logistics) or some aspect of it (if it is a private subject of logistics).

This redundancy of the name does not harm the understanding of the essence of the individual subject of logistics, if “logistics” in this case is understood as a certain science. As a result, the term “supply logistics” can be understood as the science of supply as part of a unified logistics science, “sales logistics” as the science of sales within the same science, etc.

In some cases, the use of the term “logistics” can be significant if the same name of a subject can mean different sciences (processes). For example, transport activity is the subject of logistics as a process of product delivery, but if desired, it can also be understood as some technical processes associated with the transportation process itself and with its vehicles, for example, processes of movement on rails or on a highway, refueling processes fuel or repair of these means, and all this as independent (separate) items for consideration. From the point of view of the delivery process, i.e. logistics, costs (time, coordination, etc.) for movement, refueling and repairs are important, but the technology of these processes itself is the subject of study of the relevant technical sciences, and not of transport logistics.

Logistics as a science and as a practical activity of a market participant. Since logistics is a practical science, there is often a confusion between its understanding as a science and its application in practice in the form of logistics activities of a market participant. There is nothing “scary” about this, since science must necessarily be translated into practical, i.e., in this case, logistics, activities of a market participant.

However, logistics as a science and as a practical logistics activity are not the same thing.

There is still a difference between them for the following reasons::

Firstly, a market participant usually uses in his practice the techniques and methods of logistics activities that are studied in logistics as a science. A market participant usually cannot develop them on his own, but must take advantage of the knowledge already available in this area. Science transfers knowledge into practice;

Secondly, logistics as a science generalizes the existing practical experience of many market participants. An individual market participant usually cannot do this, that is, replace science, since he does not have sufficient time, information, staff, etc. for this. Science generalizes practice, and practice is “material” for science;

Thirdly, practice, in this case logistics activities, can be carried out without any logistics science, while science cannot exist without practice. Therefore, the logistics activities of a market participant are not always the application of logistics science. In this sense, it is even more impossible to identify any practical logistics with scientific one. A market participant who bases his practical activities in the field of product delivery on the achievements of scientific logistics has a much greater chance of achieving market success than one who does not know the basics of logistics science. The goal of any science is to transfer the knowledge already accumulated by people, that is, so that each new member of society does not “reinvent the wheel”, but uses the knowledge that is already known in order to achieve their own goals on their basis and at the same time gain new knowledge that will be passed on to subsequent generations.

Logistics concepts

Logistics concepts can be divided into concepts of cost minimization and concepts of organizing logistics activities.

The concepts of cost minimization are divided into the concept of minimizing each (individual) logistics operation and the concept of minimizing overall logistics costs. The most progressive is the second concept, which is aimed at the final, rather than the intermediate result of minimizing logistics costs.

Concepts for organizing logistics activities are divided into the concept of reengineering, the concept of integration and the concept of supply chain management.

Concept concept. The concept of logistics is usually understood as either some kind of system of views that makes it possible to understand the delivery processes that take place in the economy, or some kind of leading thought (plan, general approach) that determines the entire set of actions of a market participant related to the delivery of products.

In this textbook, the concepts of logistics are presented only in their latest understanding, i.e. as a certain leading thought and a general approach to considering logistics processes from the side of a market participant based on it.

The main logistics concepts that have been formed to date can be divided into two groups: the concept of minimizing logistics costs and the concept of organizing logistics activities.

The convention of this division is that ultimately the second group of concepts still has as its ultimate goal the minimization of logistics costs, but they focus on significant organizational methods of achieving this goal, while in the first group of concepts the methods of achieving cost minimization are not limited to one group (side).

Concepts for minimizing logistics costs.

These include:

The concept of minimizing costs for a separate logistics process;

The concept of minimizing overall logistics costs. The concept of minimizing costs for a separate logistics

process. A market participant usually carries out many different logistics activities. According to the approach of this concept, its main task is to minimize the costs of each logistics process.

Minimizing costs is the goal of any market participant, since it is the main method of increasing its profits. By reducing the cost of delivering products, he thereby, ceteris paribus, increases the total profit from the sale of these products on the market.

The concept of minimizing overall logistics costs. The essence of the concept is that the logistics processes carried out by a market participant are no longer considered separately, as was the case in the previous concept, but in their entirety.

In accordance with this concept, a market participant seeks to minimize delivery costs not only and not so much in each link of this process, but in relation to its final result (product).

For example, a market participant must carry out several delivery processes in relation to its final product. He may aim to ensure that each delivery process is carried out at minimal cost, but if these logistics processes are interconnected, then it is important that the total cost of them is minimal. Typically, this can be achieved in such a way that when the costs of some individual processes increase, the costs of other processes decrease to a much greater extent than they could be reduced if considered separately. As a result, overall cost minimization only increases.

Concepts for organizing logistics activities of a market participant.

This includes concepts:

Reengineering;

Integration;

Supply chain management.

The concept of reengineering in logistics. The idea of ​​the approach proclaimed by this concept is that for the purpose associated with the delivery of products that a market participant sets for himself, a single process is developed in which all functional links of the enterprise are linked. In the event that such a link with existing organizational units fails (or is ineffective), changes are made in the relevant organizational units (unnecessary ones are removed, new ones are created, existing ones are restructured, etc.), or organizational reengineering is carried out.

The problem is that:

firstly, the need for organizational changes (organizational reengineering) may arise whenever the logistics goal of a market participant changes significantly,

secondly, logistics goals are not the only goals that a manufacturer or other market participant faces.

Integration concept. This concept is based on the fact that all components of the product delivery process that are carried out by a given market participant must be interconnected (integrated) with each other. Thus, logistics processes (logistics activities) in the company (supply, internal production processes, sales, etc.) are carried out not separately from each other, but as a single complex aimed at reducing delivery costs, timely delivery of products, and establishing sustainable market connections with suppliers and consumers of products, etc.

Supply chain management concept. This approach consists in the best organization of the entire process of delivering a specific product from its starting point (manufacturer, supplier) to the final consumer.

This concept is based on linking the actions of the entire product delivery chain from manufacturer to consumer, which consists of different market participants. If all parts of this delivery chain are in some kind of organic connection with each other, for example, they have a close (identical) composition of owners, then in this case they can find a “cross-cutting” economic interest (minimizing costs or increasing profits), which will be maximum if they will act in the market as a single entity, and not as isolated owners whose interests are opposed.

Supply activities, or supply logistics

The supply process takes place for any market participant, regardless of what it produces or what services it provides. The process of supplying a product manufacturer is called logistics.

If the subject of supply can be any product, then the subject of material and technical supply are only items of labor that are necessary for the production of new products.

The supply process consists not only of various types of procedures through which purchasing, transportation and warehousing operations are carried out, but it also includes a number of preliminary actions:

Selecting the type(s) of products purchased;

Choosing a supply method (in transit or through a warehouse);

Establishment of supply criteria;

Creation of supply bodies;

Ensuring supply coordination with other logistics processes.

The trading function in the supply process is its initial function, but it plays a central role, since it is as a result of its implementation that the product becomes the property of the buyer.

After completing the trading procedures, the buyer carries out the process of transporting the products to his warehouse.

The transport function of supply means the movement of products from its supplier to the buyer.

Transportation of products can be carried out by the buyer himself (pickup) or by a transport organization, but regardless of who carries out this transportation, all transport costs are ultimately still paid by the buyer of the products.

Transport functions in supply include:

Selecting a mode of transport;

Selecting a transport organization;

Concluding a contract for the carriage of goods;

Loading products onto a vehicle;

Implementation and/or control of the transportation process of purchased products.

The transport function smoothly transitions into the warehouse supply function, which completes the supply process, but at the same time gives rise to the next process - the process of using purchased products.

The warehouse function includes the following sequential operations:

Unloading the vehicle at the buyer’s premises;

Acceptance of products;

Placement (warehousing) of purchased products. Warehouse operations as opposed to trade and transport operations

almost entirely produced by the efforts and resources of the buyer himself.

The total costs of supply procedures include the costs of purchasing products, their transportation and warehousing (storage).

General supply issues

The supply process takes place for absolutely any market participant: a manufacturer of goods or services, a trader or simply a consumer, no matter who he is in the market. The supply process that takes place at the product manufacturer is usually called logistics.

Potentially, the subject of supply can be any product, but due to the specifics of the process of material production, the subject of material and technical supply is predominantly only items of labor that are necessary for the production of new products.

The supply process has a rather complex internal structure, covering operations for the purchase, transportation and warehousing of products. However, he has a whole series of preliminary actions that seem to precede this process itself.

Such "pre-procurement" activities typically include:

Selecting the type(s) of purchased products, establishing their qualitative and quantitative characteristics;

Choice of supply method: will the product be delivered directly from its manufacturer (in transit) or will it come from the appropriate warehouse, i.e., from a reseller;

Establishment of supply criteria, i.e. indicators on the basis of which enterprise management bodies can control all or all supply processes;

Planning and regulation of supply processes;

Creation of supply bodies, i.e. organization of bodies for managing supply operations;

Ensuring that supply is linked to all functional activities of a market participant with its other logistics processes, and with the logistics operations of other interested market participants.

Concepts of supply and logistics.

The general definition of supply, which is often given in the literature, is that it is generally the acquisition of products necessary to ensure the uninterrupted functional activities of any business organization or any market participant.

In relation to a product manufacturer, supply is usually also called logistics, which should ensure the uninterrupted production process of the product being created.

Indeed, for example, in order to produce a new product, it is necessary to bring the required raw materials in a given quantity to its storage location, as close as possible to the place of direct production. Only then can a smooth process of creating new products be possible.

In other words, the concept of “provision” in the above understanding of supply acts as a combination of many actions that must be performed so that a market participant (manufacturer or trader) can carry out his market activities on conditions that would “guarantee” him a profit in the future.

In its most enlarged form, supply includes three groups of actions, simultaneously forming three successive stages of the supply process:

1) purchase of products;

2) transport delivery to the buyer;

3) placing purchased and delivered products into storage, or storing them with the buyer.

So, if in a functional sense supply is the unity of purchase (purchase), transportation and storage (warehousing) of purchased products, then in relation to the manufacturer of products, logistics supply is the supply of objects of labor, or it is the unity of purchase (purchase), transport delivery and storage (storage) of labor items necessary for the production of new products.

Supply and logistics facilities. Supply results in the emergence of incoming stocks of products, which from the manufacturer, as already mentioned, have the material form of objects of labor.

Objects of labor are material objects that serve as the starting material for the production of new products.

Objects of labor are opposed to means of labor, the main element of which is instruments of labor, that is, such material objects with the help of which new products or new material goods are produced from objects of labor.

Subjects of labor include: mineral and agricultural raw materials, fuel, energy, semi-finished products, etc.

In practice, incoming stocks may also include stocks of some tools (equipment), but in a normal case, tools should be in the process of their functioning (use), and not stored, for example, in a warehouse. Tools of labor, unlike objects of labor, serve for a long time, usually for several years, while objects of labor are completely consumed in one cycle of the process of producing new products.

The stock of objects of labor aims to ensure the continuity of the functioning of the instruments (means) of labor, while the stock of instruments of labor does not have any objective purpose arising from the very material process of their use, and therefore, in the general case, is not a necessary and socially useful type of stock. We can say that the supply of tools is a supply that in the general case should not exist at all. Therefore, the manufacturer's incoming stock is usually only a stock of objects of labor, but not a stock of tools.

At the same time, if we are talking about the incoming stock of any other market participant or the supply of a market participant who is not a manufacturer, then this is always a stock of finished products simply purchased by him, regardless of its material type. For example, the supply of a market trader includes the purchase (in the process of his trading and intermediary activities) of any product that may functionally further relate to both previously extracted raw materials and manufactured products, including equipment (tools of labor) that must be transferred (supplied) ) into the production process of the relevant market participant.

So, the object of material and technical supply are objects of labor, and the object of supply of market participants in the general case is simply finished goods as products that either do not change during the transition from incoming stock to outgoing stock, or cease to exist as a result of its personal or joint consumption .

Procurement procedures. Supply is the unity of procurement (purchase), transportation and warehousing, and each of these functions usually includes a whole complex of a wide variety of procedures, depending on the type of products purchased, the scale of the enterprise, the nature of the production process (), industry, location of the enterprise, etc.

However, at the most preliminary level, procurement procedures are based on solving a number of the most general supply issues, which may include:

Creation of bodies responsible for supply activities;

Selecting the type of product purchased;

Choosing a method (form) of supply;

Establishment of “boundary” (optimal) supply conditions (criteria);

Management of the supply process through its planning and regulation;

Organizing the interaction of supply with other logistics processes of a given market participant.

Creation of management bodies responsible for supply processes. Each market participant usually has certain structural links that are responsible for supply processes. If we are talking about a small market participant, then it usually creates a supply department that is in charge of all supply issues in this organization.

However, in large trading and especially manufacturing organizations, supply authorities may have a rather complex structure, adapted for the normal supply activities of a given market participant.

This structure usually consists of a cargo delivery (transportation) department, a purchasing department, a department in charge of warehousing, etc.

Selection of purchased products. The starting point of the supply process is to determine what should be purchased in order to ensure the functioning of a given market participant. Typically, the composition and size of batches of purchased products are determined by the needs of the functional activities of a market participant.

Depending on the type of organization (market participant), the products purchased by it are conditionally divided into two groups:

1) for products that are necessary for the production process and sale of products;

2) for products that are necessary to ensure the functioning of the organization itself.

If the organization is a direct manufacturer of products, then based on the assortment and volumes of products produced by it, the supply authorities of this organization calculate what types of raw materials, in what quantities and within what time frame must be purchased, regardless of which products go into the production process and which for the needs of the enterprise itself.

If this is a trading organization, then it quite clearly distinguishes between the purchases of those goods that it sells on the market and the purchases of those products that it personally needs to carry out its trading activities.

If this is some kind of public or state organization, then only those products are purchased that are necessary for this organization to perform its public functions in the state.

The types of products purchased by a market participant remain unchanged for some time, however, due to changes in the production process and in the types of products produced, changes occur from time to time in the types of products purchased.

These changes can also take place when market conditions require it, for example, due to rising prices for some commonly purchased type of raw material, a manufacturer may be forced to switch to a cheaper alternative type.

Choosing a method (form) of supply.

Depending on how the connection is established between the manufacturer and the buyer of the product on the market, there are two possible ways of supplying the product, or two forms of supply:

1) transit is a method of delivering products from the manufacturer directly to the buyer;

2) warehouse is a method of delivering products from the manufacturer to the buyer through a distribution warehouse or through an intermediary (trade dealer).

In practice, of course, there is often some combination of these forms of supply, in which part of the products are purchased directly from manufacturers, and the other part from resellers.

The transit form of supply is usually used if, on the one hand, the supply of products is carried out in quantities that allow the delivery vehicle to be sufficiently filled, and on the other hand, if direct connections have been established between the manufacturer and the consumer of the product and they do not need a reseller.

This delivery method is especially suitable for the delivery of large quantities of products that do not require special operations to prepare them for use in production or consumption.

The transit method of delivery allows you to sell products bypassing commercial warehouses, and thereby reduce the overall delivery time, reduce the costs of delivering products to the consumer, loading (reloading) and unloading, etc.

All other things being equal, the transit method of delivering products is always cheaper than its delivery through a reseller, by the amount of the fee for trade intermediary services.

For most types of supplied products, a warehouse form of supply is usually used, in which the manufacturer delivers its products first to a distribution (central) warehouse owned by the reseller, from which it is supplied to customers as needed. The warehouse (reseller-dealer) acts as an additional stopping point (i.e., inventory) on the path of product movement from manufacturer to consumer.

The economic feasibility of the warehouse form of supply stems from the fact that the manufacturer usually sells its products in large quantities, and consumers need it in smaller quantities, but of different assortments. Hence, the main task of the distribution warehouse, as an intermediary in supply, is to transform large batches of manufactured products into batches that are needed by numerous consumers.

The warehouse form of supply is essentially the most important for small consumers who need quantitative quantities of products that are less than the vehicle loading standards. This problem is solved by the fact that the warehouse completes a transport batch addressed to one buyer from a whole set of products he needs. As a result, the buyer has the opportunity to order different products from one warehouse at once, but in regular transport batches, which allows him to reduce his overall transport costs.

The warehouse form of supply makes it possible to organize the delivery of products within a time frame that is as close as possible to the process of its production consumption, and thereby significantly reduce the warehouse costs of the manufacturer itself and its need for storage capacity as a consumer of the relevant items of labor or finished products.

In general, the criterion for choosing one or another form of supply is the total costs of the buyer for the delivery of purchased products.

Determination of supply criteria. Like any process that is significant for a market participant, supply must have its own criteria on the basis of which it would be possible to monitor how successfully (effectively) this process is carried out.

Such criteria, or supply indicators, usually include:

Level and structure of supply costs (including in the context of individual supply processes);

Timing and reliability of cargo deliveries;

Level of safety and loss of delivered goods;

Storage capacity of the enterprise;

Comparative prices for similar purchased products;

The presence (number) of claims from the enterprise services to its supply authorities;

Amounts of fines received from cargo suppliers and fines paid by them, etc.

Planning and regulation of the supply process. Like any human productive activity, supply is managed through planning and rationing.

Planning involves the development of specific supply objectives that must be achieved over a specified period of time in the future, usually a month, a quarter, a half-year and a year. In turn, these tasks arise from production plans, i.e., from what products and in what quantities need to be produced during the planned period.

Planning is impossible without rationing, that is, without establishing technologically and economically sound standards for the consumption of objects of labor (and working time, or labor costs) for the production of a particular unit of production.

Based on the norms of costs of objects of labor per unit of manufactured products and information about the quantity of products that need to be produced, it is possible to determine the quantity of each type of objects of labor that the enterprise should purchase for the production of finished products.

Control over the supply process. Control is an integral part of any management process.

In this case, it includes two interrelated parties:

Internal supply control, i.e. control exercised by supply department employees over the processes for which they are responsible. Based on the results of this control, operational decisions are made regarding supply operations (acceleration, cancellation, replacement, etc. management actions);

External supply control, which is carried out by the organization’s management and its control bodies. Based on the results of this type of control, decisions are made regarding the management of supply units, supply policies, etc.

In the supply process itself, control is necessary, first of all, over compliance with all established conditions for the delivery of purchased products. In this case, the type and quality of the supplied products are monitored, and most importantly, their delivery time.

If delivery times extend beyond the normative limits, the buyer (manufacturer) is forced to use up his safety stocks of the relevant products, and if they are exhausted, his commercial activities may stop and he will suffer large losses.

Control over the delivery of products allows you to timely identify bottlenecks in the current order and take the necessary decisions in advance, designed to prevent any significant disruptions in the production of products, for example, buy the required products from another supplier (from another warehouse) or replace an undelivered product an object of labor (product) of some other type, which can also be used in a given production process.

Interaction (connection) of supply with other logistics processes in the enterprise. The supply process does not exist on its own, but is an integral part of the entire logistics activity of a market participant. To a certain extent, supply has its own goals and objectives, which are implemented in the processes of purchasing products, their transport delivery and warehousing, but it is obvious that all this is done in the interests of the entire enterprise, and not as an end in itself.

Indeed, the types and quantities of purchased products are assigned to supply authorities based on the types of finished products that are produced at the enterprise or that are necessary for the functioning of a market participant. The organization of transportation of purchased products is carried out based on the time frame during which it must enter the production process. The placement and storage of these products should be organized in such a way as not to incur unnecessary storage costs, since they are completely unproductive, and therefore are minimized by all reasonable and available means.

Trading supply function

The selection of a supplier (seller) of products, which is carried out from the standpoint of minimizing the total costs of purchasing and transporting these products;

Conclusion of a supply agreement as a certain legal action performed by the buyer in execution of his decision to purchase products;

. execution of the supply contract, which includes two points:

firstly, the transfer of ownership rights to the purchased products after payment and,

secondly, obtaining (executing) the necessary documents evidencing ownership of the products. Only after completion of trading procedures can the buyer begin to carry out the process of material delivery (transportation) of products to his warehouse, or this delivery process becomes a process related to the supply activities of this market participant as a buyer of products.

Place of the trade supply function. The trading function of the supply activity of any market participant consists in organizing the conclusion of relevant contracts for the purchase of products required by the market participant, while their practical (material) execution is carried out in the form of transportation of purchased products and their subsequent placement in the buyer’s warehouses.

The trading function of supply is the purchase of products by a market participant based on the conclusion of the corresponding agreement, payment for these products (usually in money) and execution of documents indicating ownership of them.

The place of the trading function is dual:

It occupies an initial place in the overall supply chain, that is, it is its first stage among other supply processes;

It plays a major role among all stages of supply, since it is the execution of this function that means the emergence (transition) of ownership rights to the purchased products by a market participant.

The trading function represents the beginning of the supply process, since the purchased products will be at the buyer’s disposal only after they are delivered to him, which usually means moving them by some kind of transport to the buyer’s warehouse.

The trading function occupies a central place in the overall supply process, since the product becomes the property of the buyer immediately after he pays for it (exchanges it for money), which, in turn, usually precedes the start of the process of moving the product to the buyer's warehouse.

To put it another way, legally the product becomes the property of the buyer before he “physically” owns it, because the latter becomes possible only after the material delivery of this product to him.

The transportation process in this case becomes necessary only if the products become the property of the buyer. Until he bought it, he has nothing to transport. (Although, of course, in practice there are exceptions, for example, situations in which the product has already been delivered to the buyer, but ownership of it has not yet transferred.)

The foregoing does not mean that the products cannot be in the process of transportation or in the warehouse until they are sold to the buyer. In fact, the market process of its circulation can be carried out in such a way that, for example, its manufacturer can transport the manufactured product to the merchant’s warehouse and from there it will already be sold. As for the trade in household goods, in the old days there were generally forms of trade in which the trader went around the houses of potential buyers and offered to buy goods from him, that is, he actually delivered them to the buyer himself.

However, no matter how the sale of a product is organized, it usually must first become the legal property of the buyer, only then can it be “physically” transferred to him. Otherwise, the seller runs a high risk of being left without proper payment for his goods.

Schematically, the supply process is seen as a unity of sequentially performed delivery operations and as a unity of material and “cost” operations.

The trading function performed by the buyer during the supply process usually includes the following main processes (actions) that sequentially follow from each other:

Selecting a supplier (seller) of products;

Conclusion of a supply agreement;

Execution of the supply agreement (transfer of money as payment for the products and receipt of the necessary documents for the products).

The selection of suppliers is usually carried out taking into account:

Quality - the required quality of the purchased products, which must best meet the buyer’s needs in terms of standards and specifications, chemical composition, and other quality characteristics;

Quantities - the possibility of purchasing the required quantity of products from a given supplier;

The time frame within which the purchased products can (or should) be delivered;

Reliability of the supplier’s fulfillment of its obligations to the buyer;

Cost (price) of a unit of supplied products. Naturally, other things being equal, the buyer is interested in choosing a supplier who will offer the cheapest product per unit;

Distance from the buyer, because the total costs of transporting the purchased products will depend on this.

The listed factors, in turn, are specified into more detailed ones depending on the specific conditions in which the buyer finds himself in the market and in the production sector.

In practice, product manufacturers usually have a more or less stable mix of suppliers, which is adjusted from time to time, but generally remains the same for as long as the relevant products are produced. The transition to the production of new products often requires the supply of other raw materials and materials, and therefore requires the replacement of some suppliers with others.

Organization of concluding a supply agreement. The conclusion of a supply contract is preceded by a lot of preparatory work, which consists of justifying its conclusion and performing the necessary procedures related to its conclusion and execution.

The justification for the need to conclude a contract is based on appropriate market analysis and economic calculations, which make it possible to select the best supplier in terms of price and quality of the supplied products, transportation costs, delivery times and reliability of supplies, etc.

Supply contract. The central place in the trading function of supply is the conclusion and execution of a supply contract.

A supply agreement is a type of purchase and sale agreement, which is characterized by two characteristics::

1) the contract is concluded between the seller and the buyer, but the seller is necessarily a market participant carrying out entrepreneurial (commercial) activities;

2) the subject of this agreement are only goods used for business activities or for other purposes not related to personal, family, household or other similar use.

The supply agreement provides for all the necessary conditions for the supply process:

Description of the goods supplied (type, quality, etc.);

The quantity of goods supplied in its natural measures, i.e. in units of weight, volume, pieces, etc.;

The price of a natural unit of goods and the total cost of the supplied batch of goods (the product of the price and the quantity of goods);

The payment procedure, i.e. the procedure for transferring money for purchased products (form of payment, payment terms, etc.);

Terms and methods of delivery of purchased goods. Typically, dates (periods) are indicated when the buyer can independently pick up the products from the warehouse (manufacturer or trader) or when these products must be delivered to the buyer’s warehouse;

Other necessary conditions. These may include the obligations of one of the parties to the contract for the delivered products, the warranty obligations of the parties, penalties, the procedure for resolving disputes between the parties to the contract, etc.

The supply contract usually also stipulates such points:

The contract may be concluded for the supply of goods in one consignment or in separate consignments;

The terms for which the contract was concluded. Often these types of contracts are of a fairly long-term nature, that is, they are concluded for periods calculated in years;

The type of transport that the seller will use to ship the products to the buyer;

The procedure for accepting goods by the buyer (inspection, checking quantity and quality, etc.);

The procedure for returning reusable packaging, if any;

In addition to the considered type of purchase and sale agreement, supply activities may be associated with the conclusion of other existing types of legal agreements related to the purchase of products, these include, in particular: an agreement for the supply of goods for, (supply of agricultural products), an energy supply agreement (supply of electricity ), which reflect the specific features of the supply of relevant types of products.

Payment for purchased products. Payment for purchased products is an action that means that the products become the property of the buyer. Usually payment is made in cash, i.e. by transferring money from the buyer to the bank account of the seller of the products.

If the buyer does not have the required amount at the time of payment, he can take out a loan from a bank or write out a security, which represents an obligation to pay the required amount to its bearer after an agreed period.

Typically, the buyer receives documents to own the product only after full payment.

Types of documents indicating ownership of products. Such documents usually include warehouse and certificates, and other documents of title.

Documents certifying ownership of the purchased product are necessary not only to pick up the purchased product from its seller or warehouse, but also for the internal buyer. These documents contain all the primary information about the purchased products (quantity, quality, price, etc.), which is necessary in order to keep track of the costs of production or other commercial or non-commercial activities of the buyer.

Transport supply function

Transportation of purchased products can be carried out either by the buyer himself, or by its seller (supplier), or by a specialized transport organization.

In all of the above options, this is the transport function of this buyer, because in any case, all the costs of transporting the products are paid only by him and, accordingly, he makes the choice of transportation method in such a way as to minimize his costs.

The existing supply process usually includes the following main transport functions:

Selecting the type of transport and type of vehicle;

Selecting a carrier's transport organization;

The actual process of transportation to the buyer’s warehouse and/or control over it.

Place of transport function. This function of the supply process includes the organization of the entire delivery process as a process of moving products purchased, usually under a supply agreement, to the buyer’s warehouse or to another place of storage required by him.

The transport function always takes place in the supply process due to the fact that the seller and buyer are different market participants with different locations.

Delivery of purchased products is carried out by one or another type of transport, owned either by the manufacturer (seller), or the merchant (reseller), or a specialized transport organization, or the buyer (consumer) himself.

Market forms of existence of the transport function, or methods of transport delivery of products.

The buyer’s transport function can have two market forms of manifestation, or be carried out in two ways:

1) the buyer’s own transport activities;

2) payment for third-party transport services for transport services of the seller or services of a transport organization.

Even if the buyer himself does not deliver the products he has purchased, the process of moving them as part of his own supply activities still takes place, but only in the form of transport services paid for by him, and not in the form of his own transport costs.

The difference between the indicated methods of delivery of purchased products, or market forms of existence of the transport function in the supply activities of the buyer, is that, in their composition, transportation costs by paying for transport services exceed their own similar costs by the amount of profit that is included in the price of the transport service.

However, this does not mean that your own transportation costs are necessarily lower than the payment for transport services. When transporting over significant distances, usually the costs of paying for transport services are lower than the costs of transportation carried out by the buyer himself, due to the more efficient use of transport by specialized transport organizations.

Selecting a delivery method. Initially, the buyer must make one or another choice between two methods of delivering the purchased products: with his own resources and resources or by involving other market participants in this process, primarily specialized transport organizations.

In general, he makes a decision about who will carry out the process of transporting the purchased products, based on two reasons:

1) the comparative level of costs for transporting purchased products using the specified methods;

2) the ability to deliver purchased products on our own.

In the first case, if it is cheaper for the buyer to bring the product himself than to hire a transport organization, then it is natural that he will deliver it himself. Otherwise, hire a specialized carrier for this purpose.

However, very often the buyer does not have the necessary vehicles to deliver all the products he purchases, especially since they can be very diverse and require different types of vehicles for delivery. Therefore, he is already forced (must) to use hired transport and pay for it at the prices (transport tariffs) that have prevailed in the market.

As a result, in the process of its supply activities, the buyer usually chooses not so much between the specified delivery methods, but between different carriers (transport organizations).

Basic transport functions of supply.

The enlarged supply process consistently includes the following main transport functions:

Selecting a vehicle;

Selecting a carrier;

Concluding a contract for the carriage of goods and obtaining shipping documents;

Loading products onto a vehicle;

The process of transportation to the buyer's warehouse.

Selecting a vehicle. Selecting a vehicle means choosing between different modes of transport used to deliver cargo, and within a mode of transport - choosing a vehicle, if necessary.

Usually the buyer has some kind of vehicles, but in some cases he may also have his own fleet of wagons, ships and even airplanes. Therefore, he chooses his vehicle, which, on the one hand, will require the least transportation costs, and on the other hand, can (capable) transport the purchased cargo.

But even if the cargo is delivered by third-party transport, the buyer often has a choice of which mode of transport is best for him to deliver the cargo. Usually the choice is made between, for example, rail and road delivery of cargo.

Delivery of cargo by rail itself is cheaper than by truck, but if additional transportation from the railway station to the buyer’s warehouse is then required, costs immediately increase, and under certain conditions it turns out to be more profitable to transport the products directly by truck to the buyer’s warehouse than reload it from transport to transport, which requires new costs, additional time, there is a risk of losing part of the cargo, etc.

The choice of mode of transport is determined by the type of product transported, transportation distance, location of the supplier and buyer, transport tariffs, etc.

Selecting a carrier. Typically, the choice of a carrier for purchased products consists of choosing one of the available transport organizations that transport goods by the selected mode of transport.

The choice of a transport organization is made when the choice in favor of the appropriate mode of transport has already been made. In this case, the buyer seeks to find a carrier on the market that better satisfies him in terms of prices, terms, reliability and other conditions that are important to him.

Contract for the carriage of goods. When the buyer has decided on a transport organization, he enters into an agreement with it for the transportation of the purchased products. The processes of purchasing products and concluding an agreement for their transportation should be carried out more or less in parallel, since it is advisable to immediately export the purchased products, since they are necessary for the process of using them, or you will have to pay for their storage to the supplier, etc.

This situation of coordinating the processes of purchasing products and organizing their transportation is often simplified if the buyer has a more or less long-term relationship (connections) with both the seller and the transport organization. In this case, supply and transportation contracts are concluded once for a period of time, for example, for a year, and within this period all supply actions are executed promptly and within the time limits agreed upon in advance.

A contract for the carriage of goods is the main legal document that formalizes the relationship between a market participant (sender of goods) and a transport organization (carrier) regarding the transportation of goods.

In this agreement, the carrier undertakes to deliver the cargo entrusted to him by the sender to the point designated by him and to deliver this cargo to the recipient. The sender must pay the carrier a specified fee for this.

The contract usually specifies the delivery time of the goods.

The conclusion of this contract of carriage is confirmed by the issuance of a special document to the sender of the cargo - a waybill.

Loading of shipped products. Depending on the delivery method, loading of products onto a vehicle can be carried out either by the buyer himself, for example, when the products are transported “pickup”, or only by the shipper. This is usually specified in the contract of carriage, and the costs of loading (and unloading, if required) are included in the buyer's (as consignee) transport charges.

Transportation process. If the buyer himself transports the purchased products, he himself bears responsibility for them in terms of timing, safety, etc.

If transportation is carried out by the appropriate transport organization, it is responsible for delivery times, and for the safety of products, etc. The actions of the buyer of products in this case are reduced mainly to monitoring the process of transportation of products and ensuring the necessary conditions for their subsequent unloading and acceptance.

Transportation is the most time-consuming supply process, and therefore it is the one that requires the closest attention, since current inventories of products are usually maintained at a relatively minimal level in order to save warehouse costs, and therefore the production process is highly dependent on the rhythm and timeliness of product deliveries.

Warehouse supply function

This function usually consists of the following procedures:

Unloading the vehicle at the buyer’s premises;

Acceptance of products by the buyer from the carrier;

Placing (warehousing) products for storage (in a warehouse) at the buyer.

These operations are almost always carried out by the buyer himself, and the associated costs increase the total cost (price) of the purchased products.

Place of warehouse function. With regard to the delivery of purchased products to the territory of the buyer (or to another place that suits him), the warehouse function, or storage function, plays the final role, since the delivered cargo is placed where it should be from the point of view of the process of its further use.

The supply process ends with the placement of purchased products usually in the appropriate (“acceptance”) warehouse of the buyer, from which they will then be sent for production or other economic use.

Warehousing of delivered products is an independent and quite responsible operation, if only because this product will soon be “needed”, and therefore access to it must be ensured, it should not be “overwhelmed” by other batches of products. Accordingly, it should not suffer from loading and unloading operations performed with it, from the method of its storage, etc.

Depending on the adopted method of organizing the production (or trading) process, the buyer must have one or another storage capacity and product reserves that allow him to uninterruptedly carry out his own commercial activities.

Since the warehouse activities and inventories of a market participant in relation to the process of producing profit are exclusively costs and therefore are a factor that reduces this profit, there is always an interest in reducing warehousing and reducing the current inventories of necessary products.

Therefore, we can say that the organization and management of supply should be aimed at the maximum possible reduction of incoming stocks of a market participant.

Basic warehouse operations with delivered (purchased) products.

In the most general terms, we can say that the products delivered by the buyer must be properly placed (stored), i.e., the following sequential procedures (operations) must be carried out):

Unloading a vehicle with delivered products;

Acceptance of products to the warehouse (verification against sales documents and actual delivery, unpacking, etc.);

Placing (warehousing) products for storage (in a warehouse), including its movement within the warehouse and other necessary operations.

Unloading products. The purchased products delivered to the buyer are unloaded from the vehicle, usually by the forces and means of the buyer himself, directly at the place intended for unloading operations.

As a rule, the place where bulk cargo is unloaded is as close as possible to the place where these products must be stored for some time. This place is always distinguished by the fact that the relevant machines and mechanisms (conveyors, cranes, etc.) necessary for unloading fairly heavy cargo or cargo of large dimensions are concentrated there.

Small loads can be unloaded at any suitable location on the buyer's premises and are usually carried out by labor stevedores.

Acceptance of products. This operation is very responsible, since it is necessary to make sure that the arrived products are exactly the ones that should be delivered. Its quantity, integrity of packaging or appearance, completeness, etc. are checked.

Documents for products are compared with their actual delivery, with the terms of the supply agreement, etc.

The results of acceptance are formalized accordingly by the person accepting the product and the person who delivered it. Documents on acceptance of delivered products are transferred to the buyer’s accounting department and other services that need them for their work.

Placement of delivered products. Depending on what the delivered product is, it is either placed in a place or room (warehouse) specially designed for its storage, or immediately transferred to those functional units for which it is intended. For example, if office supplies are purchased, they are often immediately transferred to those departments of the organization for which they are intended. If we are talking about objects of labor necessary for the production process, some of them can immediately enter the production cycle (into a production unit, workshop), and some of them can be sent to a warehouse, from which they will be released for production as needed.

The total cost of purchased products, or total supply costs. In accordance with the supply (purchase and sale) agreement, the buyer first pays the market price of the purchased products. Then, since its transportation is usually carried out by a transport organization, it also bears the cost of paying for transport services. Finally, when the products arrive on his territory, he bears the costs of unloading, warehousing and storing them.

Consequently, the total cost of purchased products consists of the indicated three groups of expenses, which in one form or another are borne by the buyer of the products.

The specificity of accounting for these supply costs is that payments for products and their transportation (delivery) to other market participants are taken into account in full, and the buyer’s own expenses for purchased products are often not directly taken into account, but are hidden in general (general business) items of its current expenses.

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The efficiency of organizing logistics at an enterprise depends on the formation of the enterprise's logistics system. The logistics system is an element of organizing the activities of an enterprise. Its use allows you to integrate various processes of the enterprise and organize internal processes with minimal costs while optimally adapting the internal environment of the company to external factors affecting its activities. The process of forming an enterprise logistics system is complex, so it is advisable to divide it into several stages. We propose the following section (Fig. 1):
Stage 1 - determination of the main aspects of the formation of the logistics system;
Stage 2 - taking into account the main factors in the formation of the logistics system;
Stage 3 - formation of the enterprise’s logistics system.
At the first stage, the process of forming an enterprise logistics system must be considered from several points of view. Logistics methods are known for their multidimensionality in practice, therefore, when forming an enterprise logistics system, you need to attach great importance to this. We have developed the main aspects of the formation of an enterprise logistics system, which are shown in Fig. 2. In our opinion, it is necessary to form a logistics system for an enterprise from the point of view of major and minor aspects. The main aspects include: organizational, functional, informational. It is advisable to include the following minor aspects of the formation of an enterprise’s logistics system: personnel, financial. Taking into account all the above proposed aspects when forming an enterprise’s logistics system will ensure the versatility of logistics and confirm its universality as a science in practice. The result of this approach will be flexibility, mobility of the system, and most importantly, its successful operation in the future. Having determined all aspects of the formation of the enterprise’s logistics system, you can move on to the second stage of its formation. The basis of this stage is taking into account the main factors in the formation of the logistics system.

The main factors in the formation of an enterprise logistics system should be:

Enterprise mission;

Enterprise strategy;

Risks of the enterprise's activities;

Factors of the external environment of the enterprise;

Components of the functioning of logistics at an enterprise;

Components of logistics organization at an enterprise.

Let us present a detailed description of the main factors in the formation of the logistics system at the enterprise. An enterprise mission is a clearly defined reason for the existence of a particular enterprise. As a rule, the mission of a modern enterprise can be considered to be the production of products or the provision of services to meet market demands and make a profit. It provides general guidelines for the functioning of an enterprise and its place in a certain area of ​​business. Based on the mission of the enterprise, the goals of conducting business activities are formulated. The mission of the enterprise has a huge influence on the formation of the logistics system. There must be a clear relationship between these elements. The logistics system should be formed in the same direction as the mission and goals of the enterprise.

This will help:

2) identify actions and decisions that impede the effective conduct of business activities;

3) will ensure the implementation of mutually compatible (synergistic) functions of the logistics system;

4) will ensure correction of the functioning of the logistics system over time, since all goals of the enterprise’s mission have a short-, medium- or long-term forecast period. The enterprise strategy is related to the activities of the enterprise as a whole and is aimed at fulfilling its main mission. In the process of its implementation, material, labor, information, and financial resources are used. Therefore, the connection between the processes of formation and functioning of the logistics system and the enterprise strategy is obvious. The main components of the functioning of logistics must be considered in the context of its main functions.

The main components of the functioning of logistics are supply, production, marketing, sales, warehousing, transport, and personnel. Delivery ensures the flow of material into the logistics system.

Manufacturing is a process aimed at converting raw materials and materials into finished products. It includes the management of material flows at the production stage. Inventories allow you to optimize the functioning of the entire system and play an important role in the stages of exchange between supply, production, transportation and sales.

Marketing is the identification of consumer requirements and preferences. In other words, this process can be characterized as market research.

Sales are processes aimed at bringing finished products to consumers.

Warehouses are special buildings and devices designed for receiving, placing, servicing and storing raw materials and finished products.

The transport sector refers to vehicles and the material and technical base with the help of which transport processes are implemented within the producer-consumer framework.

Personnel are personnel organized in a certain way, managing logistics, logistics operations and implementing logistics tasks to achieve logistics goals.

All components of the functioning of logistics are one of the factors in the formation of the enterprise’s logistics system. Material flow passes through each of the listed functional components of logistics. During this process, a gradual transformation of the material flow occurs at various stages of its movement under the influence of other logistics flows and functions. All processes occurring in these components must be logically structured, and the basis of their functioning should be maximum interaction between themselves and other factors in the formation of the logistics system. Logistics at the enterprise should act as a buffer for interaction. This operating principle will ensure effective management of logistics flows at any stage of their movement in any functional area of ​​logistics. Another factor in the formation of a logistics system is the components of the logistics organization at the enterprise.

It is difficult to imagine the commercial processes of a modern enterprise without computers and other information, electronic, and technical means. In logistics it is known that of all logistics flows, it is the information flow that underlies the transformation processes of all other logistics flows. Therefore, the formation of an enterprise logistics system without a logistics information system is ineffective. Management of the logistics system, like any other economic system, should be carried out on the basis of well-known basic principles of management in the economy. We believe that it is quite advisable to apply the basic functions of management to manage the enterprise’s logistics system and organize its main processes. The mission of the enterprise, the strategy of the enterprise, the components of the functioning of logistics and the components of the organization of logistics at the enterprise are factors in the internal environment of the formation of the logistics system of the enterprise and the enterprise, as a rule, can influence their progress. In our opinion, the factors in the formation of an enterprise’s logistics system related to the external environment include the logistics risks of the enterprise’s activities and the processes of the enterprise’s external environment that affect its activities. The enterprise cannot influence these factors, but they directly or indirectly affect its activities. The processes of the external environment of an enterprise that influence its activities can be divided into two categories: processes of direct impact and processes of indirect impact, which in turn are divided into groups. Direct impact processes include consumers, suppliers, intermediaries, competitors, contact audiences, and other market entities. The processes of indirect impact include economic, political, legislative, scientific, demographic, socio-cultural, technical, technological, natural resource and environmental processes. The magnitude of the influence of a particular factor is determined depending on the operating conditions of a particular enterprise: its scope of activity, size, location, scale of action, etc. During its operation, the logistics system is exposed to certain risks that can change its final result for the worse. Therefore, when forming a logistics system, in order to avoid unforeseen circumstances, it is necessary to take this into account. In Fig. Figure 7 schematically depicts the main types of logistics risks. The main types of logistics risks, as we see, are the risks of low qualifications of personnel (human factor), commercial, social, technical, economic, and natural risks. Taking risks into account when forming an enterprise’s logistics system is mandatory. In modern business conditions, which can vary significantly over short periods of time, the enterprise must have reserve resources, additional development options and possible ways to adjust the mission, main goals and strategy of the enterprise in case of any risk. The last, final stage in the formation of an enterprise logistics system is precisely the formation of the system. Logistics, as a new science, has its own specific organizational features in practical activities. In order for the logistics system to function effectively, the process of its formation must be based on a systematic approach, taking into account the aspects and factors of its formation developed above. The systematic approach is based on the principle of a consistent transition from the general to the specific. This approach to forming a system will ensure a smooth and conflict-free transition from one functional area of ​​logistics to the next.

The structural and organizational model of the formation of a logistics system covers a significant list of structural units of the enterprise and structural units of the functioning of the market, in this case it is its elements or subsystems.

It is advisable to include the following as structural units of the enterprise:

purchase department;

marketing department;

sales department;

wholesale warehouse or distribution center;

transportation department;

logistics Department;

pharmacy chain.

The structural units of market functioning include:

manufacturers;

intermediaries, transport and forwarding organizations;

pharmacies of other companies; consumers.

In practical activities, the integration of these elements forms the enterprise logistics system. Each of the elements has its own structure and operates according to its own organizational principles. The relationship of all elements is close and inverse, which makes it difficult to isolate each of the structures separately. This approach to the formation of an enterprise logistics system ensures its flexibility. The flexibility of an enterprise's logistics system is determined by its ability to quickly respond to changes in the micro and macro environment.

The formation of an enterprise's logistics system should be carried out through coordination and synchronization of the functional areas of logistics: supply, production, sales, transport, warehousing and external factors affecting the activities of the enterprise. Ignoring some factors will lead to conflict in the functional areas of the system, negative consequences in the planning and forecasting process.

The essence of the functioning of the developed structural and organizational model of the logistics system is to orient the development of the enterprise in those directions that correspond to its interests and opportunities for organizational and economic development, increasing operational efficiency and competitiveness through the formation of economic potential. Conclusions. The formation of an enterprise logistics system will ensure a smooth transition from one internal production process to the next; this is a universal tool for increasing competitiveness, with which you can eliminate obstacles to the formation of an internal production commodity-information-financial system for a specific enterprise and optimally adapt it to external macroeconomic systems. Due to the formation of the enterprise’s logistics system, the quality and productivity of workers’ labor increases, which indicates the motivational properties of logistics for personnel. The functioning of the logistics system allows you to combine all the internal processes of the enterprise into a single whole, coordinate their activities for optimization and conflict-free link them with processes occurring in the external environment in order to obtain maximum profit.

The logistics system of the service sector, in our opinion, is the most complex and least studied.

In the process of market interaction, market counterparties - producers, intermediaries and consumers - enter into various kinds of relationships, the result of which is not only actions associated with material relationships (purchase and sale), but also a set of operations that accompany or condition these interactions - i.e. . service (or maintenance) services. The service can take place at various stages of the logistics chain for promoting products from their manufacturers to consumers.

The key concepts for market economic systems (due to the dominance of the buyer's market) are the basic concepts of quality in general and methods for monitoring and assessing the quality of customer service.

According to the international standard ISO 8402, quality is a set of characteristics of an object related to its ability to satisfy established or expected needs.

According to this definition, the quality of customer service is interpreted as an integral indicator covering a set of logistics parameters (product delivery time, number of completed orders, duration of the service cycle, waiting time for placing an order for execution, etc.). Naturally, in order to organize quality service there must be a certain system.

Customer service quality system is a set of organizational structure, procedures, processes and resources necessary to provide the required level of customer service.

The formation and maintenance of a system for the quality of customer service is necessary, since there is a permanent need to monitor the compliance of the services provided with certain parameters (delivery time, duration of the service cycle, etc.). The shortcomings of the provided service are understood as the non-compliance of the service with the standard, the terms of the contract or the requirements of consumers for the level of quality of service.

The efficiency of the customer service system is an indicator (or system of indicators) characterizing the level of quality of functioning of the service system at a given level of total costs of the enterprise. From the point of view of the consumer, who is the final link in the supply chain, the effectiveness of the service system is determined by the level of quality of execution of his order.

Thus, efficiency of service logistics systems depends heavily on the ability to identify potential outcomes early in the customer service process.

In modern market conditions, the seller is forced to build his activities based on consumer demand. At the same time, demand is not limited to the demand for goods. The buyer also dictates his terms in the field of composition and quality of services provided to him during the delivery of this product.

Service in the general understanding of this term means someone’s action that benefits or helps another. The work of providing services, that is, satisfying someone's needs, is called service.

The nature of logistics activities presupposes the possibility of providing the consumer with a material flow of various logistics services. Logistics service is inextricably linked with the distribution process and represents a set of services provided in the process of supplying goods.

The object of the logistics service is various consumers of the material flow. Logistics services are provided either by the supplier itself or by a forwarding company specializing in the field of logistics services.

All work in the field of logistics services can be divided into three main groups:

- pre-sales, those. work on the formation of a logistics service system;

Works on provision of logistics services carried out in the process of selling goods;

- after-sales logistics service.

Before the implementation process begins, work in the field of logistics services mainly includes determining the company's policy in the provision of services, as well as their planning.

In the process of selling goods, a variety of logistics services can be provided, for example:

Availability of inventory in the warehouse;

Order execution, including assortment selection, packaging, formation of cargo units and other operations;

Ensuring delivery reliability;

Providing information on the passage of goods.

After-sales services include warranty service, obligations to address customer complaints, exchanges, etc.

When choosing a supplier, the consumer takes into account the latter’s capabilities in the field of logistics services, i.e. the supplier’s competitiveness is influenced by the range and quality of the services it offers. On the other hand, expanding the service sector involves additional costs.

A wide range of logistics services and a significant range in which their quality can vary, the impact of services on the company’s competitiveness and costs, as well as a number of other factors emphasize the need for a company to have a precisely defined strategy in the field of logistics services to consumers.

Let's consider the sequence of actions that allow you to create a logistics service system:

1. Segmentation of the consumer market, i.e. its division into specific groups of consumers, each of which may require certain services in accordance with the characteristics of consumption;

2. Determining the list of services that are most significant for buyers;

3. Ranking of services included in the compiled list. Focusing on the services that matter most to customers;

4. Determination of service standards in the context of individual market segments;

5. Evaluation of the services provided, establishing the relationship between the level of service and the cost of the services provided, determining the level of service necessary to ensure the competitiveness of the company;

6. Establishing customer feedback to ensure that services meet customer needs.

Segmentation of the consumer market can be carried out by geographic factor, by the nature of the service, or by some other criterion. The selection of services that are significant for buyers, their ranking, and the determination of service standards can be done by conducting various surveys. Evaluation of the services provided is carried out in various ways. For example, the level of delivery reliability can be measured by the proportion of lots delivered on time.

The company's resources are concentrated on providing customers with the services that are most important to them.

Undoubtedly, an important criterion that allows us to evaluate the service system both from the position of the supplier and from the position of the consumer of services is the level of logistics service.

As a rule, this indicator is calculated using the formula

where S is the level of logistics service (%); m – quantitative assessment of the actual volume of logistics services provided; M – quantitative assessment of the theoretically possible volume of logistics services.

Also, the level of service can be assessed by comparing the actual time for performing certain logistics services with the time that would need to be spent if the entire range of possible services was provided:

where N is the number of services that can theoretically be provided; n – actual number of services provided; t – time to perform the i-th and j-th services.

With the understanding of what a logistics service is, companies begin to develop a correct understanding of what logistics is and why it is needed. Let's consider the basic concepts and characteristics of logistics services, which can become a starting point for making important strategic decisions.

The conditions for successful implementation of a logistics service system are as follows:

– availability of monitoring and feedback from the client;

– coordinated interaction of all departments and services of the company;

– a proper motivation system that makes employee performance evaluation dependent on the level of service;

– competence of responsible persons in logistics.

The desired level of service is the starting point of many logistics calculations, directly influencing the formation of a transport and warehouse network, vehicle fleet, people’s work schedules, the number of outlets, inventory levels, requirements for the qualifications of service personnel (we must not forget that incompetent or insufficiently polite employees can negate the benefits of the most expensive and sophisticated service systems).

Investments in logistics infrastructure of any kind in one way or another imply a return in the form of an increased flow of customers (orders), which is a consequence of an improved or qualitatively different level of service. Thus, logistics management in an enterprise is, first of all, the management of customer service, and the art of logistics lies in managing such a service at optimal costs, that is, it implies finding effective solutions to improve or maintain service. In other words, logistics service is a balance between the priority of high-quality customer service and associated costs.

The basic level of service in logistics is assessed according to the following indicators: accessibility, functionality and reliability.

Availability means having inventory available to meet customer needs without interruption.

Functionality is determined by the time that passes from the receipt of the order to its execution, that is, delivery to consumers. This indicator consists of two elements - speed and continuity of supply. In other words, the high speed of shipment must be constant. If a company promises super-fast delivery but is often or almost always late, there is no point in making such promises or maintaining the infrastructure to provide such service.

The firm's goal is to meet or exceed customer expectations. In this sense, it is better to promise less, but deliver it more clearly, than to promise a lot, but in practice fail to cope even with basic functions. Other important characteristics of service functionality are flexibility, that is, the speed with which the firm responds to unusual or unexpected customer requests and also eliminates shortcomings. It is almost impossible to avoid individual failures at different stages of order fulfillment. When this happens, the assessment of the company's service level depends on how quickly and clearly the customer's complaint is satisfied.

And finally reliability service is a characteristic of the quality of work of the logistics department in the company. A key factor is an accurate and thorough assessment of accessibility and functionality. Only such an assessment makes it possible to determine whether the company’s logistics system provides the desired level of service.

From the customer's point of view, it does not matter what kind of failure occurred during the execution of his order. He will evaluate the company's work rather on the basis of whether any mistakes were made or not. Accordingly, the concept of a perfect order is an adequate tool for assessing logistics services and management. This is an order that was completed from start to finish without a single deviation from the promised conditions. That is, the required goods were delivered on time in full with correctly completed documentation and invoices.

The ratio of such perfectly executed orders to the total number of orders is a very important indicator of the company's performance. It is most often one of the strategically important indicators monitored and controlled at the highest level. It is important that this particular indicator be included among the motivating factors for staff. Such a solution will stimulate a process-integrated approach to improving customer service (it is no secret that the motivation for high-quality performance of individual functions included in order fulfillment does not guarantee, and sometimes directly interferes with, the final result - fulfilling the order perfectly).

Since many functional departments are involved in order fulfillment, various types of equipment and capacities are involved, and there are also external, sometimes force majeure, circumstances, it is almost impossible to achieve an ideal 100% rate of completed orders. In addition, this level of service is associated with almost prohibitive costs. Some standards have been established in world practice. In particular, a level of 95% is an indicator of exceptionally high quality of service. Many companies consider a figure of 80–90% quite acceptable for themselves. But if the ratio is below 60%, this is a serious reason for immediate action.

Logistics (from the Greek Logistike - the art of calculating, reasoning) is the theory of planning, management and control of the processes of movement of material, labor, energy and information flows in human-machine systems.

Logistics examines in detail the organization and methods of rationing production, sales and inventory, as well as the financial aspects of inventory management: assessment of the need for working capital necessary to maintain production, sales and inventory, forms of payment for supplies, risk assessment.

The difference between the logistics approach lies in the integration (technical, technological and economic) of individual links of the material supply chain into a single system of end-to-end management of material and information flows in order to achieve the desired result with minimal time and resources.

One of the definitions adopted at the congress in Helsinki. states: “Logistics represents the overall: strategic, tactical and operational view of the company and its business partners with material flow as an integrator.”

In world practice, since the mid-70s, logistics has become a goal-setting field of activity, primarily because in modern business the time it takes for goods to pass through various logistics channels has increased significantly (over 90% of time costs). Increased interest in logistics abroad is associated with the fact that this approach ensures a significant (30-50%) reduction in all types of inventories of material resources, acceleration of working capital turnover, reduction (25-45%) in the time of movement of products from the primary source of raw materials to the final consumer, reduction in production costs , distribution and the most complete satisfaction of consumers in the quality of goods and services. Integration of various functions of product distribution makes it possible to establish the optimal balance of interests of various companies and divisions of the company, to achieve on this basis the minimization of total costs and to obtain an overall result of activity that exceeds the sum of the individual effects.

The effectiveness of the logistics system is determined by the level of logistics costs necessary to achieve the best values ​​of such a group of company performance indicators as: product readiness and delivery commitment, flexibility and quality of supplies, reduction of order fulfillment time, information readiness. First of all, the values ​​of these indicators directly depend on level of organization of business processes in the company. In the narrow sense of this term, logistics is the organization of processes of various types. But if in foreign companies all attention is now focused on the problem of their optimization, then most of our enterprises have not yet solved the previous one - to build processes into a more or less acceptable system, for which, first of all, their formal description is necessary.

Only by solving this problem and learning to obtain the necessary information about material flows can you begin targeted management of the quality indicators of the logistics system using special methods used in each of the logistics components.

Therefore, in Russian conditions, most logistics projects, one way or another, come down to projects to describe and put in order the company’s business processes, which so far has the greatest cumulative effect.

Another limitation that must be taken into account when choosing topics for logistics projects is the inapplicability of many world standards and logistics techniques (for example, SIC or JIT) for the majority of Russian companies operating in a rapidly changing environment with a generally low level of business culture (both internal and external - primarily non-binding in partnerships). However, the significant effect that can be obtained from the successful implementation of logistics projects makes them increasingly popular.